Athletics and Football (extract)

RUNNING AND RUNNERS 83 freshand strong, to givehim both spurt and reserve of energy upon an approaching day, you should make him thoroughly exhaust himself at least once a day.' It is advice of this sort whichsends athletes into the hospitals or to an earlygrave,while, if they had passed their youth in a sensible and rational course of training and practice, theywouldhave laid in a stock of health and strength whichwould have rendered them independent of a doctor's advice for the rest of their lives. It may seem a paradox, but it is, we think, true, neverthe­ less, that there are two entirely different ways of preparingfor a quarter-mile race. The reason is this, that the distance is a common ground for two entirely different classes of runners. On the one hand, the best quarter-miler of the day is often the man who is the best sprinter as well,and has found that this distance is not beyond his sprinting powers when he is very fit. On the other hand, the sprinting quarter-milerssometimes find themselves outclassed by a runner who is of nothing more than second-classsprinting ability, but whose stay and strength enable him to keep his stride fromshortening up to the veryend of a quarter-mileor even farther. To take some examplesfrom the present day. To Cowieand Wood the quarter is reallya sprint, and nothing else. But a pair of Cambridge runners, W. H. Churchill and R. H. Macaulay, occur to our mind whowere indifferent sprinters, and yet could beat 51 seconds for a quarter-mile, and could probably have reached 50 seconds if pressed; while H. R. Ball is another example of the same class. Even Myers, the best quarter-miler by a verylong way who ever appeared in the amateur world, wasof no particular account at any distance shorter than 200 or 220 yards. The first class of quarter-miler can rarely (if ever) attempt any distances over the quarter, even the 600 yards race being beyond his powers. On the other hand, the second class is often seen at the top of the tree at 600 yards or half a mile as well,as were Colbeck, Elborough, and Myers. With regard, then, to training for a quarter-mile, it is easy to understand that the two classes of runners should not prepare themselves